Colorado Apartment Association: Rent Control

Challenge

During the 2019 Legislative Session, the Colorado Apartment Association (CAA) was confronted with legislation that would have crippled Colorado’s housing industry and related affordability measures if passed. CAA called upon Novitas Communications to wage war through the media and educate Coloradans and legislators on the long-term disastrous economic impacts of rent control. Although Senate Bill 19-225 was backed by powerful government leaders and special interests, it was ultimately defeated, due in part to the influence and efforts of Novitas Communications and the Colorado Apartment Association. This legislative win demonstrated how PR can partner with government relations to produce wins for the community and save an entire industry.

Colorado’s population has grown by over 500,000 in the past decade causing a shortage of affordable rental housing. Measures to inject additional rental units are at the forefront of every housing discussion, whether among industry experts, Colorado renters, or elected officials. Even though Colorado Apartment Association and its partners work tirelessly to create and advocate for attainable housing options, some Colorado legislators sought to impose rent control restrictions as “quick fix” policy solution.

Unfortunately, rent control hurts those it’s intended to help by lowering unit supply and driving up housing prices, forcing residents out of the rental market. To protect Coloradans and create an affordable landscape for future generations, CAA launched a campaign against SB19-225 during the 2019 Legislative Session.

Solution

RESEARCH

Primary Research: In preparation for the 2019 Legislative Session, our team worked with a nationally-recognized public polling firm to measure CO’s public support of rent control as an affordable housing solution. We knew that rent control would be on the agenda. The poll found that only 19% of respondents considered rent control the best solution for addressing CO’s affordability crisis. In contrast, 29% of respondents thought the best solution was public-private partnerships and 27% thought the best solution was to build more housing and reduce barriers.

Secondary Research: To understand rent control’s long-term impacts, our team reviewed rent control studies and policies in California, Oregon, and New York, which allowed CAA to predict the impacts of rent control in CO should SB19-225 pass. The overwhelming consensus from national economists was that rent control further exacerbates the issue of affordable housing, rather than offer more housing opportunities.

Cause & Effect: After hearing the resounding opposition from polling and the confirming data, our task became to strategically combine the negative voter sentiment with the confirming research on rent control to produce an unrelenting wave of anti-rent control content and link it to SB19-225. The research allowed our team to refine CAA’s messaging to be localized and evidence-based for a convincing argument to Colorado legislators and residents.

PLANNING

Objective: The objective of this campaign was to defeat Senate Bill 19-225 in the Senate.

Target Audience: SB19-225 would be presented to the State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee and the Senate floor, so Colorado senators were a primary target as were their constituents. CAA focused on members of the Senate committee, as well as friendly Senators and persuadable Senators. CAA’s second target was Colorado renters. It was very important to the organization to educate residents on the dangers of rent control. Since public opinion in Senate districts drive senator votes, we especially targeted Colorado renters in influential senate districts.

Key Strategies: Based on research, planning, and budget, CAA employed the following strategies:

• Present data highlighting negative constituent sentiment around rent control and the ineffectiveness of rent control as an attainable housing strategy.
• Communicate around legislative milestones.
• Assemble diverse voices to demonstrate widespread opposition to damaging rent control policies.
• Educate constituents of key legislators and encourage them to contact their legislator.
• Keep the coalition aligned through external pressure.
• Support lobbyist activities to maximize the impact of efforts.

Our tactics centered on using print media, social media, digital media, and supporting lobbying efforts to work in an integrated way to deliver a consistent message to our targeted audiences. Core messaging unified these various tactics to achieve an organized, focused, and timely approach to defeating the rent control bill.

Before the bill was formally proposed, our team effectively created buzz around the negative effects of rent control to condition the environment for success. We distributed five press releases, wrote and placed several op-eds, and distributed one media advisory in relation to attainable housing and rent control legislation. In early April, CAA released the first press release announcing the strong public opposition to rent control in addressing Colorado’s housing affordability crisis. Shortly after, we released a media advisory calling for media to cover CAA allies as they testified at the Capitol against SB19-225. At every significant juncture in this legislation process, involving SB19-225, our team made sure the media was alerted and our message was included in articles. Over the course of the campaign, our team repeatedly reached out to over 100 media contacts throughout the state of Colorado across print, online, television, and radio to encourage coverage on the opposition to rent control legislation as well as the support of four attainable housing bills in the Colorado legislature that CAA believed were better solutions. We received media coverage from the following outlets: Denverite, Colorado Watchdog, FOX31, KOAA, 9NEWS, Denver Business Journal, Denver7, CBS4, The Denver Post, KRDO, Colorado Politics, Complete Colorado, The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, The Colorado Springs Gazette and The Colorado Springs Independent.

CAA team members were widely quoted throughout the earned media. CAA board member Teo Nicolais, a Harvard extension instructor in real estate and local rental property owner, was quoted in several outlets including: FOX31, KOAA, 9NEWS, Denver Business Journal, CBS4, Denverite, The Denver Post, and KRDO. Additionally, Mark Windhager, president of the Colorado Apartment Association, was quoted in Denverite, Colorado Watchdog, Denver Business Journal, The Denver Post, and he was featured in a guest column in The Colorado Springs Gazette debunking the concept of rent control.

Alongside earned media, our team crafted and executed a strategic social media campaign. CAAs tactics included sharing public- opinion-shifting data points, as well as anti-rent control videos and visually appealing graphics. Social media served as the tip of the spear for rapid responses to any legislative updates and progress on the bill. Related digital tactics involved geofencing any event in which rent control supporters were gathered with an onslaught of anti-rent control digital, catching the attention of reporters in attendance.

Concurrent with the earned and social media campaigns against SB 225, our team crafted paid media advertisements on various mediums, including print and digital. These ads were created in an ultimately successful effort to keep CAA united in the fight against the bill. It was an important step in the broader campaign, as we were aware that similar efforts in other states had failed due to coalition fracturing.

Results

During the 2019 Legislative Session, the Colorado Apartment Association (CAA) was confronted with legislation that would have crippled Colorado’s housing industry and related affordability measures if passed. CAA called upon Novitas Communications to wage war through the media and educate Coloradans and legislators on the long-term disastrous economic impacts of rent control. Although Senate Bill 19-225 was backed by powerful government leaders and special interests, it was ultimately defeated, due in part to the influence and efforts of Novitas Communications and the Colorado Apartment Association. This legislative win demonstrated how PR can partner with government relations to produce wins for the community and save an entire industry.

Colorado’s population has grown by over 500,000 in the past decade causing a shortage of affordable rental housing. Measures to inject additional rental units are at the forefront of every housing discussion, whether among industry experts, Colorado renters, or elected officials. Even though Colorado Apartment Association and its partners work tirelessly to create and advocate for attainable housing options, some Colorado legislators sought to impose rent control restrictions as “quick fix” policy solution.

Unfortunately, rent control hurts those it’s intended to help by lowering unit supply and driving up housing prices, forcing residents out of the rental market. To protect Coloradans and create an affordable landscape for future generations, CAA launched a campaign against SB19-225 during the 2019 Legislative Session.